High tension cable



Jam 3 1939- D. A. c. zot-:THOUT 2,142,625

HIGH TENSION CABLE Filed July 6, 1935 Flg. 2. Lead sfea Cop/npr brain' m m www fm /a 4m 5 INVENTORJ f7. C'. Zoe /vou l ATTORNEYS.

Patented Jan. 3,1939

HIGH TENSION CABLE Danil Allard Coert Zoethont, Driehuis-Westerveld, Netherlands, assignor to N. V. Hollandsche Draad-en Netherlands Kabelfabrlek, Amsterdam,

Application July 8, 1933, Serial No. 679,168 In the Netherlands July 6, 1932 6 Claims.- (Cl. 173-264) Rubber for use as a high voltage insulating material, in particular for high voltage cables, has been rendered possible by the application of rubber, which has been made conductive, as intermediary layer between the insulation and the metallic conductors, that is to say as part of the conductor. By effecting a thorough adhesion between the conductive rubber and the insulation the major objection to the use of rubber, viz.

10 ionization and the formation oi ozone, is overcome. p

As appearsfrom the results previouslyl obtained it has not been recognized thatl the conductive rubber has to satisfy certain sharply defined conductive properties and that a resistance of the Yconductive rubber layers, which is small 1n comparison'to the resistance oi.' the insulation, is not sufficient.

The subject of the invention is the novel feature, that the resistance of the conductive rubber has to lie below a deiinite limit. Moreover the invention provides means for obtaining the saidresistance, which is relatively low. Finally it has appeared, that the combination of an in- A' 25 sulating substance and the insulating substance which has been rendered conductive, so as to show a deiinite maximum resistance, need not be limited to rubber. Any insulating material resembling rubber and also synthetic materials,

' 30 such as synthetic rubber and ilexible resins, may

be applied according to the same principle.

I'he present invention can be described more specically by reference to the accompanying drawing in which there are shown, more or less diagrammatica1ly, several illustrative types'ot cables within the purview of the present invention. In this showing:`

Fig. 1 is a cross section of acable insulated with rubber andy provided with layers of con- 40 ducting rubber in accordance with the presentv invention,

Fig. 2 is an elevation of the cable shown in Fig. 1, with the various layers making up the cable being cut away -to show the internal construction,

Fig. 3 is a cross section of a flexible cable provided with a hollow core and layers of conducting rubber, Q

Fig.` 4 is an elevation o the cable shown in Fig.

50 3 with the layers cut away to show the internal termediate, adjacent layers 0f Conducting rubber. while ber.

"with a layer l of conducting rubber.

F18. 6 is an elevation of the cableshown in Fig. 5, with the various layers cut away to show the construction.

In the various figures the central metallic conductor is designated by reference numeral i. In 5 Figs. 1, 2, 5 and 6, this conductor is shown imbedded in a layer 2 of conducting rubber, while in Figs. 3 and 4 a conducting rubber layer 6 is shown surrounding the braided conductor which is employed in the flexible type of cable. In the 10 cable of Figs. land 2 the central layer 2 of the conducting rubber is surrounded with a layer 3 of insulating rubber, which in turn is covered with a layer 4 of conducting rubber. Ihe lat ter layer is enclosed in the lead sheath 5. 15

In the cable of Figs. 3 and 4 an intermediate layer' oi insulating rubber is provided, this layer being covered with a layer 9 of conducting rub- A braided copper sheath 'l encloses this cable. 20

In the lcable of Figs. 5 and 6, alayer Il oi insulating rubber surrounds layer 2 of conducting rubber. Then an assembly of three adjacent layers, i I, i2 and i3 of conducting rubber are provided,'the specific resistances of these layers be- '25 ing usually selected in such manner that the center layer i2 has a resistance considerably below` 1 megohm per cubic centimeter and the speciiic resistance of the layers il and i3 is higher but still below 1 megohm per cubic centimeter. $0 A layer i5 ofV insulating rubber is provided on the outside of layer i3. It is thus seen that the assembly of conducting rubber layers, il, i2 and I 3, is united on either side to insulating rubber layers and that the resistances of the conducting rubber layers is graded in such fashion that the resistance increases toward the insulating rubber. Although an assembly oi only 3 con-Y ducting rubber layers is shown in the drawing,

it will beunderstood that any number oi' these 4olayers may be employed, so long as their speciiic resistances are graded from an inner conducting layer towards the insulating rubber layers. The `insulating rubber layer Il is covered And the 45 assembly as a whole is enclosed in the metal sheath l, as in theV case of the cable lhown in the other figures.

-The combination: conductive layer-insulating layer-conductive layer may be considered as a 5o series connection of a resistance, a condenser and a resistance. In the resistances a certain voltage will be absorbed by the charging current of the condenser, which flows through the resistance. This voltage is in phase with the chargu -ing current, whereas the voltage in the condensor lags substantially 90-with regard -to the charging current. An energy component of the voltage and a wattless component of the voltage may be distinguished, the quotient of these being the tangent of the complement of the phase angle between the voltage and the charging eurent, which is caused by the resistance of the conductive layers. In other words the resistance of the conductive the tangent of the loss angle (delta) of the insulating material.

`Indeed to this tangent the quotient of the energy component of the voltage inf the conductive 175 layers and the ywattless component of the voltage in the insulating layer should be added. ,Now

rubbers have already been made, which possess a value of tg 8:0.003 to 0.004 and the results ci the experiments with rubber and other homo- 20 geneous insulating materials do not yetshow,

that a limit is attained, so that the conductivity .of the insulating substance, which has been rendered conductive, should satisfy such a requirement, that the increase of tg which is due to 25 the loss of voltage in the conductive layers, does 3@ permissible increase 35 cable may be distinguished.

not amount to more than 0.0003 for example. The quotient between the energy and the wattless components maythereore not be greater than this value.- The value of 0.0003 for the maximum of tg was obtained by taking ,10% of the tg of a' good quality of insulating rubber, this value being 0.003.

Now three directions, in which the conductive layers have to carry the charging current of the These three directions are: l.. The radial direction, that is the Vdirection A in the inner layer between conductor and. insulation as Well as in the outer layer between the 41.0 insulation and the metallic sheath. This directact with these layers.

' du metallic conductor and the insulating 55 tive layer is not ideal, if therefore tion is only then exclusively present, ii the current conductor as well as the metallic sheath lie along their entire surface completely against both conductive layers and are in complete con- In this case the resistance of these layers is mainly determined by their thickness.

2. The circumferential direction, that is the direction along the line of `juncture between the material, which has been rendered conductive, in the cir- Jcular cable section. 'This direction of current flow is present ii? the contact mentioned above between the metallic conductor and the conducthe current conductor ts somewhat loosely in the inner conductive layer and/or if the metallic sheath ts somewhat loosely over the outer conductive layer. The case may be such, that contact is only made along one lline of the current conductor or of the metallic sheath. The increase of the losses is in this case determined, in addition to the thickness of the conductive layer, also by this circumference.

3. 'I'he longitudinal direction of the cable. This direction of iiow occurs nearly exclusively in the outer layer, if nometallic earth sheath is present and the outer conductive layer is earthed, from point to point. The increase of the losses in this case is not only determined by the thickness of the conductive layer, but also by the distance between the points, at which the layer is earthed. This direction of ilow does' notv occur in threephase cables, in which the outer layers, which have been rendered conductive, lie

layers determines the increase of this path for l cm.

and are therefore in contact. The charging currents of the three single-conductor cables compensate. This direction of iiow is very -pronounced in cables with intermediary layers, that is to say with controlled voltage distribution in the dielectric. The conductivity of the intermediary layers.. should in this case be suiicient to smooth out the charging currents of the series connected .unequal condensers.

'A simple calculation provides in all three cases the maximum of the admissible specific resistance of the conductive material.

1. It for instance a cable for weak currents is taken, with a copper core of 2 mm. thickness, a layer of conductive rubber of 9 mm. thickness, a

against each other layer of insulating rubber of 17 mm. thickness,`

the increase of tg is to be calculated for a voltage of 100 kv. The charging current for 1 cm. of cable coniirmed byexperiment is approximately 6105 amperes, the vresistance of the conductive rubber layer is about 0.3 a: (where :c equals resistance per cubic centimeter); the energy component of the voltage is then 1.8--5 a volts and this may be equal to 0.0003 multiplied by 100,000=30 volts. The maximum value for :c is then about 1.5 megohms per cm3.

If this' number is compared to the resistance of insulating rubber, viz. about 1015 to 101i ohm ner cm3., it will be seen directly that it will not be suicient, even in this iirst most favorable case, to diminish'the resistance of the insulating rubber, even ii the decrease of vresistance is important,

and that rather a considerable conductivity isto be required.

2.- If the same cable is provided with an outer layer of conductive rubber having a thickness of 0.1 mm., which is earthed along a generating line of the outer cylinder, the loading current of the dielectric material will have to traverse a path of about 1/4 of the circumference of the cable section, before reaching earth. IThe resistance of of cable-amounts to .the cable diameter being 5.4 om. and thel thickness oi' theconducting layer being 0.01 om., while ohm . mais the specic resistance.

is the charging current of l cmjof cable is about 8- 10-E amp., the tension (watt tension) `will amount to volt From the requirement that the maximum value oi this tension is 30 volts it follows that the maximum specic resistance @5:1175 ohm/cm2. v

3.' A third calculation for the new of the charging currents in the longitudinal direction of if xa the specic resistance.

f is not obtained however.

Then the tension is 25o ,rss-0.01x3 mit this tension having a maximum value of 30 volts. 'Ihus :1:3:037v ohm/cm3.

If, however, the outer layer is earthed at intervals of m. the maximum resistance of the outer layer will only be 0.007 ohm/cm3.

It has been shown by experiments, that a single conductor cable, covered by a normal extension method with lead as to the outer conductive layer may be pretty well ranged along the case mentioned under 2. Thelcontact between the conductive layer and the lead sheath is o! such nature, that in the mean,contact with earth should be reckoned to be present for one generating line. In particular after some use of the cable, the lead mantle will not t closely scolare-5 around the insulation due to repeated expansions.

In all cases cited it is necessary, that the speciiic resistance of the conductive insulating material be inno case higher than 1 megohm per cm3.; besides it should be pointed out, that the maximum limit of the resistance should in nearly all practical cases be fixed at 1000 ohm per cm3.

The obtention oi' a low specific resistance is possible in two ways. Inthe first place the substances, whicb. are to be added, may be chosen of a certain quality, quantity and in a certain combination. On this choice depend closely:

1. The plasticity of the conductive mixture:

2. The adhesion to the insulation.

Should the adhesion become insufficient, a second measure may be taken, viz. thesub-division of a conductive layer into'small layers having an increasing conductivity as they near the metallic conductor.

As an example oiY mixing with a certain-kindV of conductive substance mixing with metallic powders may be mentioned.

The resistances, which may be obtained are of such a nature, that the flow of charging current is possible without inadmissibly high losses as well in the iirst cited case as in the second case.

.Such a low resistance, that the flow in the longitudinal direction of the cable would be possible,

Metallic (lead) sheath has therefore to be provided and it is not possible to provide intermediary sheaths.

An example of mixing with a certain quantity of a conductive substance is that oi' mixing with iinely divided graphite. It has been proved that in the curve of the conductivity as a function of a percentage of graphite a sharp kink or break occurs at about 65%. At 60% the resistance values are considerably higher than is admissible; from 60% to 65% a rapid decrease in resistance occurs; at 65% lies about the value of resistance admissible for the flow of charging current in radial direction; at about 70% the value admissible for the axial direction. More than '70% may not be added without losing too much plasticity, tensile strength and elasticity. Flow of charging `current in longitudinal direction is also not possible in this case.

-tioned kind of rubber showing however considerably improved properties.

The measure mentioned in the second instance; constituting the conductive layer from thin layers having increased conductibility results in the iirst place in a better mechanical adhesion between the insulation and the conduct tive insulation. The transition is more gradual the influence of the principal cause of the forma'- tion of hollow spaces viz. the difference in coeffcient of expansion being thereby reduced. In the second place it renders possible the iiow oi charging current in longitudinal direction and the application of intermediary layers, avery low resistance being now attainable. In particular if metal powders are utilized the component layer with the lowest resistance may possess a quite elevated metal percentage, the adhesion onto the insulation being taken care of by the constituent thin layers with higher resistance.

In the extreme case, intermediary layers in long cable systems, the provision of spirally wound layers of sheet metal may be resorted to, these layers being followed on both sides by layers of conductive insulating material, the resistance of which gradually increases and merges into that oi the dielectric. It the material is rendered conductive by the addition of metal powder the sheet metal is preferably chosen identical as the used metal powder.

It goes without saying that the auxiliary pieces united integrally to the system, in particular the cable junctions or boxes and the terminal boxes, should also be reckoned to belong to the cable. In general it is possible and preferable to construct the said auxiliary pieces in the identical manner as the cable, so that the diierent dielectric and conductive layers are continued in the junction and terminal boxes.

What I claim is:

l. A cable insulated with layers of homogeneous elastic insulating material, at least one of said layers of insulating material having been rendered conductive by having intimately incorporated therein a quantity of lithopone and a quantity of iinely divided conductive substance and having a specific resistance of less than 1 megohm per cubic centimeter.

2.` A cable comprising a central metallic conductor insulated with at least one layer of insulating rubber andcomprising at least two layers of conducting rubber integrally united with said insulating rubber, at least one of said conducting rubber layers comprising rubber intimately that is, when utilizing i mixed with a iinely divided carbon and having a specific resistance of less than 1 megohm per cubic centimeter; the conductivity of said conducting rubber. layers being different and said layers being so. arranged that the conductivity of said layers increases from an outer insulating layer towards the metallic conductor.

3. In a high tension cable, lan assembly of adjacent rubber layers comprising at least part of the insulation of said cable, said assembly comprising a iirst insulating rubber layer, a second adjacent layer of conducting rubber containing a iinely divided conductive substance dis tributed therein and having a specic resistance not substantially greater than one megohm per cubic centimeter, and a third layer consisting of conducting rubber, adjacent said second layer, containing a iinely divided conductive substance distributed therein and having a speciiic resistance of less than one megohm per cubic centimeter and less than that of said second layer; the assembly of rubber layers being integrally united.

4. The cable of claim 3 wherein the nely divided conductive substance is a carbon.

y 5. The cable of claim 3 wherein the nely divided conductive substance is a metal.

6. A cable insulated with rubber and comprising an assembly of at least three adjacent layers of conducting rubber, positioned between and united with layers of insulating rubber and having a specific resistance of less than 1 megohm aisaoae per cubic centimeter, said layers of conducting rubber comprising rubber intimately mixed with at least 65 per cent of a nely divided carbon and being disposed in. such manner that the specic resistances of the layers adjacent the insulating rubber layers is greater than that of the inner layers of said assembly.

DANrl ALLARD coER'r zoE'rHoUT. 

